Red vs. Blue: Unleashed

Terrible At Stealth

Grif and the others had returned to Red Base, only to find Doc monitoring Donut after he'd fallen asleep.

"He doesn't have much time left. Usually this kind of development would take at least a week, but it took only a day for whatever this is to kill him. I'm really sorry."

Simmons looked over at Donut. "You did the best you could, Doc."

"That's the thing. I didn't. There really wasn't anything I could do. I wanted to save his life, but instead I ended up just lying to him as his life faded."

Grif didn't know how he wanted to feel about this. On one hand, he never cared for Donut, and he'd only been here for less than a day. But on the other hand, Donut was another human, a comrade in this war. That should have meant something, but it didn't. Maybe Grif no longer had any feelings toward death after being in the corps, but... Donut was still another human being.

Sarge seemed to be in the same boat. Grif couldn't see his face at all, but sometimes visors acted as faces. Most of the time, actually. It was ironic in a way; the helmets obscured their faces, but they said more than enough about what a person was thinking.

Grif slowly stepped toward Donut. He saw his pained expression, even in his sleep. He didn't want to spend anymore time around someone who would soon die, but he didn't feel like leaving Donut.

"Uh, Grif?" Simmons asked.

Grif sighed. "What?"

"We... told him to go to the store, which... was how he found the cave. This... was our fault... Grif."

"No. No, it wasn't. He would have found the place anyways at some point! Of course he would have! He... !"

Grif stormed out of the base, cursing under his breath. He didn't want to deal with this. Simmons had no idea what he was talking about.

"Grif?" It was Simmons. Why did he follow him?

"WHAT. THE FUCK. DO YOU WANT?!"

Simmons backed up slightly.

"DONUT IS DYING, AND YOU'RE TRYING TO CONVINCE ME IT WAS OUR FAULT?! FUCK YOU, SIMMONS! FUCK YOU! HE DIDN'T EVEN MATTER, SO WHY ARE YOU SO BENT ON MAKING ME FEEL SO GOD DAMN GUILTY?! FUCK YOU!"

"Grif, I-"

"NO, I'VE HEARD ENOUGH! YOU THINK YOU HAVE TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR EVERYTHING, AND NOW YOU'RE FORCING THAT ON ME!"

Grif turned away. He sat down, his breath getting heavier. When he turned back around, and saw that Simmons was still standing there. "God damn it, Simmons. Just leave me alone."

Simmons nodded and stepped back inside, leaving Grif by himself as the sun dipped below the horizon.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Church couldn't believe it. The flag was gone. Had Sarge taken it as well? How did he even manage that? As many questions Church had, they weren't important right now. What was important was getting the flag back.

And Church knew exactly how.

"Blue Command? Come in, Blue Command! Our flag was stolen and we're going to need some backup! Could you send us someone who can help? A special operative, maybe?" he requested.

"A- Private Church, could you repeat that?"

"Our flag is fucking gone, and we can't get it back on our own! We need backup! Pronto!"

"Alright, we read you loud and clear, Private Church. We're sending in a nearby freelancer by the name of Tex, rumors say she once beat an alien opponent to death with his own skull, so that should help you."